Beginnings
by A Paper Flower
Summary: "Who knocked over the bookshelf?" he asked, eyeing the children. Only Shiki and Eri seemed to know who actually did it, but they both didn't say anything. Oneshot. Shiki and Eri friendship. NeShiki if you squint.


**Disclaimer: I don't own The World Ends With You!**

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**Beginnings**

_Shibuya, 10 years ago._

"I'm here! I'm here!" came a little voice as a tiny green blur rushed into the art room. She bumped into her teacher, falling hard on her rump.

"Shiki," her teacher started, a smile on his face as he helped the little girl up. "Can you tell me why you're late?"

"_Gomenasai!_ Papa got home late," she explained, rubbing her rump as she shook her head, making her pigtails swing around. Her teacher laughed, sitting back down at his desk and grabbing his coffee cup.

"It's alright, just take a seat," he told the little girl, watching as she skipped to her seat next to Eri Takasi. Shiki smiled at her light haired friend, grabbing her pencils and paper as they were told to draw different things.

"Look! I made a kitty!" she exclaimed, turning to her best friend.

"I made a dress!" Eri stated proudly, showing her the picture of the well drawn (for a 5 year old) ball gown. Shiki gazed at her own drawing, her eyes narrowed as she tried to fix the lopsided attempt at a cat. All the young kids worked on their drawings, some happily and some not.

"Does it look better now?" Shiki asked her best friend after redrawing some parts. Eri nodded, but it didn't convince Shiki. She went back to work at trying to draw something else.

After about a half an hour, a lanky older teen entered the room and started speaking with the teacher. A few minutes passed, and then the art teacher stood up.

"Alright, kids, this is Koki. He's going to watch you while I go to the gym. Daisukenojo's gotten his head stuck again," he sighed, walking out of the room. The guy that was left just plopped down in a seat and took out a GameBoy, his attention then focused on that.

The kids took that as their cue to start making whatever they wanted. Shiki, with some hesitation, followed Eri to the back of the classroom. That area housed the material for making things such as clothes and blankets.

"Look, Shiki! I wanna make something!" her best friend said excitedly, grabbing some necessary materials and wandering back to her desk. The brown haired little girl looked over the sewing tools, her eyes wide. Quickly, she grabbed a few things and went back to her desk.

About 15 minutes later...

"Ugh! This is fuster...frustri...frustrating!" Eri yelled, finally finding the right word. She threw down what was supposed to be a hat, before turning to her friend. Surprise was written on Eri's face.

Shiki had made a simple, but adorable tiny stuffed butterfly, having snagged some stuffing out of the back. She had glittered the wings, making the purple fabric stand out.

"How...how did you do that?" Eri asked, watching as her friend jumped up and down in glee.

"I don't know!" she laughed, "I just _did_!"

In her excitement, she started jumping around the room, something none of the other kids seemed to pay attention to. But, in her joyful haste, she accidentally slipped on something and bumped into an unsturdy bookshelf, sending it toppling to the ground. All of the children jumped back, alarmed by the sound. Koki, the guy still playing GameBoy, stood up as the teacher came running to the room.

"What happened?!" he shouted, and Shiki winced.

"The bookshelf fell over," Koki explained, stuffing his GameBoy in his hoodie pocket. The teacher sighed, dismissing the teen. He then turned to his young art students.

"Who knocked over the bookshelf?" he asked, eyeing the children. Only Shiki and Eri seemed to know who actually did it, but they both didn't say anything. One was too scared to say anything, and the other would never rat her best friend out.

The teacher went to each child, asking them if they knew. Finally, after asking a snarky little blonde haired boy, he got to Shiki.

"I don't know who did it," she lied nervously, but it seemed to convince him. An overwhelming feeling of guilt settled upon her tiny shoulders as she went back to her desk. It was just a little lie, right?

By the time it was time to leave, no one had admitted to knocking over the bookshelf.

The car ride with her dad was silent, and once the little girl got home, she went straight to her room. Shiki pulled out a movie her dad had gotten her, another American film. Silently, she crept down the stairs and put the movie in the television, hoping that _Pinocchio_ would help alleviate the guilt she felt for lying to her teacher.

It didn't.

She constantly felt her nose, making sure it hadn't grown. The little girl was nearly in tears, the guilt making her feel just awful. After the movie, she padded upstairs, her little butterfly in tow. She had a hard time sleeping that night, and the 5 year old spent the next few days sadly trying to figure out what she could say to her teacher.

The opportunity came as the next art class came around.

She asked her dad to take her early, and he did, already thinking he knew what had happened. She quickly ran inside, her butterfly tucked in her little green purse as she flew down the hallways.

She burst into the art room, startling the teacher who had his back turned.

"I did it!" she exclaimed, her eyes watering. Her teacher turned to her in surprise.

"What?"

"I knocked down the bookshelf! I'm sorry! I did it!" The little girl was close to breaking down. Her teacher raised an eyebrow.

"That's funny," he started, "because he was just telling me that he did it."

As her teacher moved aside, Shiki caught sight of a young boy, no older than herself, standing behind him. The boy had a mop of orange hair on his head, and, boy, did she find that weird.

"W-what? Why?" she started to ask, but he cut her off.

"It wasn't her fault," the little boy said. "I dropped my pencil and she slipped."

Shiki stared in surprise at the boy, her purse dropping to the floor and the butterfly falling out. She just kept staring, not saying a word.

"Alright, it's settled then," her teacher began. "While we have class in the other room, I want you to clean up the mess you made."

They both nodded, and their teacher then looked at the butterfly.

"Who made this?" the man asked, picking it up. Shiki silently raised her hand, her head down.

"It's beautiful. You have a talent, little girl," he said, ruffling her hair affectionately before leaving to go teach his class. That left the two children in silence, both of them staring out the door. Shiki fiddled with her blue shirt as she turned her attention to the boy next to her.

"Thanks," Shiki began, her soft voice a little hoarse. The boy gave her a smile.

"No problem," he said, before gasping quite loudly.

"Oh!" he began digging around in his pockets, then pulled out two pieces of paper. "Here."

Shiki took the papers, her eyes widening as she saw the first one.

"My drawing...?" she wondered, looking at the poorly drawn black cat. She then looked at the other paper, giggling. On it was another black cat, this one drawn well. It almost looked cartoony, with its white eyes and nose.

"Your drawing was cool, so I wanted to draw one too," the boy explained almost sheepishly, eliciting another giggle from the little girl. She held out her hand.

"My name's Shiki! What's yours?"

Slowly, the boy reached out and shook her hand.

"Neku."

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_Shibuya, present time._

It was the group's 3 month anniversary from being out of the Game.

Shiki reached into a box she had found in her closet, looking through all the papers. A cat drawing had caught her eye earlier, reminding her of a time when she knocked over a bookshelf in art class, and she was trying to find the other one.

With a smile, she pulled out a drawing of a black cat, signed in messy handwriting by a certain carrot-top. She put the two drawings carefully in her bag, grabbing Mr. Mew on her way out the door.

It was time to see if Neku remembered.

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**Wow. It's short, but I can't believe it. That came out of nowhere. **

**There are alot of subtle things in this story, if anyone can notice them! Cyber pies to those who can get 3 or more! Some of them are really obvious.**

**Leave a review if you can!**


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